EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMME

A full scale cold-formed steel will be tested to failure under static loading. A series of
small-scale center point loading tests will be carried out for the sample.

MATERIALS

The truss will be manufactured using (IM NOT YET SURE BUT 1-1.5 MM) thickness of
steel. The steel will be galvanised with a standard 275 g/m2coating. Tensile tests first
will be carried out on the steel to determine its Modulus of Elasticity, Yield Strength and
UTS.

DESIGN OF TRUSSES

As the investigation is intended to study the influence of the liquid metal antenna on the
structural behaviour, the design of the trusses will be kept as simple as possible. The
trusses will be manufactured and tested with spans varying from (IM NOT YET SURE
BUT 3-6 M). It was observed in the tests by Davies [1] that asymmetrical joints were
liable to twist and induce a prying action into the connection. To reduce this effect the
chords will be symmetrical about the central vertical axis. The chords will be made by
connecting two stiffened L shaped sections back to back. These sections will be
specifically designed to suit the operating dimensions of the available liquid metal

antenna and this dictated the overall geometry of the chord section. In many industrial
applications the manufacturing equipment is custom designed to suit the nature of the
parts being connected. Details of the sections used to manufacture the test trusses are
shown in Fig. 1. The cross-sections of the truss was shown in Fig. 2. The trusses
consisted of continuous chords with regularly spaced compression struts and diagonal
tension ties. The ties will be manufactured from 50 mm wide flat steel strips placed
between the two parts of the horizontal chords. Thus the liquid metal antenna will be
formed through three steel layers. The compression struts will be stiffened using return
flanges, forming a Z profile to increase their buckling resistance. The web of the struts
continued into the space between the two halves of the chord forming a similar
connection as the diagonals. The chords will be produced in thickness of 1.5 and 1.2
mm thicknesses and the diagonal ties in thickness of 1.2 and 1.0 mm. The general
arrangement of the trusses is shown in Fig. 3. The connection between the tie and the
chord will be offset by 60 mm from the connection of the strut to the chord. The chords
will be intended to be continuous for the full length of the trusses. However as the
chords will not be standard sections their lengths were limited by the size of the
available manually operated folding machinery and were produced in lengths of 2 m.
The trusses reported herein will use a format known as type S, produced using tools
equipment supplied by Eckold GMBH (DI KO SURE KUNG MERON SA PINAS NITO
HUHU NAGHAHANAP PA DIN KAMI NG SUPPLIER)
[1] Davies RJ. The behaviour of press-joining in cold-formed steel structures. PhD
thesis, University of Edinburgh; 1996

TEST PROCEDURES FOR TRUSSES

DI PALA NATIN PWEDE GAMITIN YUNG UTM GUYS BECAUSE OF SOME

RESTRAINTS WALANG MAGHO-HOLD NG TRUSS SA UTM TRY NATIN TO PAG
WALA TAYONG MAHANAP NA HYDRAULIC RAM GG

The truss that will be tested in a steel reaction frame shown in Fig. 4. Point loading will
be applied to the trusses. Point load will be applied at the ends and to the upper chords
at the loading positions. Timber blocks will be cut to fit the flanges of the chords to
provide additional torsional restraint at the load points. Load will be applied using a
central hydraulic ram attached to a hand operated pump, the load being distributed
using a spreader beam. Load will be measured by a 30 kN digital load cell. Liquid metal
antenna will be attached to the chords and the diagonals. The strain gauge positions
are shown in Fig. 3. Strain measurements and load will be recorded using
(PADUGTUNGAN NA LANG PO DI KO KASI DI KO GAMAY YUNG ELECTRONICS
PART). Three initial cycles of load will be applied to enable bedding and establish a
repeatable load deflection response. The fourth cycle of load continued from zero load
to failure.

SUNOD SUNOD NA LANG TO FIGURE 1-4